Doctors Offering Free Eye Tests

March 16, 1986

KISSIMMEE — Area ophthalmologists are offering free eye examinations to people 65 or over beginning Monday.

The program, called the National Eye Care Project, does not cover hospital charges, eye glasses or prescription drugs. It is sponsored by the Florida Society of Ophthalmology and is geared to help the elderly who cannot pay for eye care.

Robert Serros, an Orlando ophthalmologist who has a Kissimmee office, said 50 percent of blindness is preventable, and about 55 percent of the people who are blind are 65 or older. Serros said the elderly may believe that nothing can be done to correct vision problems. But new techniques such as the laser and drug therapies are making it increasingly more possible to correct such eye problems as glaucoma, cataracts, diabetic retinopathy, corneal disease and retinal detatchment.